Poised for action, nineteen friends and I sit, awaiting the signal. We obey the shouted commands and move into position. At the air horn or whistle blast, we launch into motion, relentlessly powering a 46-foot-long vessel for an intense two minutes or less in a celebrated ancient tradition. Thanks to a friend inviting me out of my comfort zone, this is the new hobby I now enjoy nearly every weekend: dragon boating.
Have you heard of it? A paddle sport fast increasing in popularity, especially across the United States, dragon boat racing hails from China more than two millennia ago. The original dragon boat races have historical significance connected to ceremonial and religious events and the legend of a Chinese poet named Qu Yuan. But here in the US, dragon boating is simply a competitive but fun, recreational paddle sport that’s accessible to anyone at any fitness level and fosters thrills and teamwork. Several clubs, associations, organizations, and federations exist throughout the US to support and grow the sport.
My team—Lake Acworth Dragons—has just formed in the past year. Here in the Northwest Atlanta area, we’re blessed with access to several lakes. I live fifteen minutes from the beach where we launch for practice each week. Our team has practiced every Saturday since early March (brrrrr!) after taking a break last year in mid-November. Our roster boasts an assortment of people of various experiences, ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
Practice is an all-hands-on-deck affair, where after group stretches, each paddler carries their own weight in readying the boat and getting it out onto the water. Our team then paddles for a minimum of an hour, alternating drills with practice races. The drills challenge us on form, synchronicity, and power work, while the race pieces prepare us to paddle vigorously for 250 meters. Our core team has grown to at least a dozen faithful paddlers attending nearly every practice, and we usually have at least one or two newbies each week, trying out the sport for the first time.
We’ll compete in our first festival this weekend and race several other local teams. It’s been exciting to experience our team’s growth in our abilities over the past months, and our coaches believe we’ve come together to create a powerhouse. We’re a force to be reckoned with, and I suspect we’ll go far in the festival as we compete in heats. But regardless of the final outcome, I’m happy to participate because the festival is a fundraiser for cancer outreach.
Falling in love with dragon boating has been a delightful surprise for me. For years, my only real “hobby” was watching our kids play sports. My life as a mom and wife mostly consisted of coordinating, schlepping, cheering, volunteering, meal planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning up, etc. I’m in the twilight years of my truly hands-on parenting now that Big Kid has flown our nest and Little Bit will be able to drive herself places by the end of this year.
Balance in life is important to me, and I try to maintain a balance between my writing life and family/home life. And somewhere in there, I need a fun thing to do just for me. As a writer, I’m often sitting at my computer for hours, so I wanted something physical to do for fun (beyond my sauna fitness workouts). I never played team sports growing up, but I’m enjoying the teamwork aspect of dragon boating. Meeting people I may never have met otherwise and the camaraderie we’ve developed brings a little extra joy to my life.
What hobbies do you enjoy? Have you tried anything new recently? What do you think of dragon boating, and would you ever try it? Wish me luck on our festival!